Last home exhibition game for Habs

The Canadiens play the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night at the Bell Centre – the last of five preseason games the team has played in front of its adoring public.
There’s a good chance we’ll see more genuine NHLers in the lineup – plus training camp phenom Brendan Gallagher (photo by Sandor Fizli, Reuters).

Who brings a banana to an NHL game? I mean really. Gotta keep that potassium level up when you’re skulling Lakeports (or whatever they serve in the London Hockeydrome).
This quote from the article is AMAZING:

“One set of grandparents said their grandson isn’t a racist and wants to be a police officer.”

suffice into say, зкуешл, but that is not the truth of the mater. policemens many put racism actions on this places. insofaras these foregoing, what is your planet, NDGHabsfan, if you can make this words? i beg to differ, please.
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PRETIKO! – Ed Ronan tchevadish ko smojep MONREALIKATSI!!!

I love Gallagher as much as anyone right now but seriously… we are talking about a guy who has 1 assist right?

I know he’s been energetic. I love that he’s second on the team in shots – but for once – can we please leave a young player alone long enough for him to develop to his full potential?

We always assume the best case scenario – that he’ll become Jeff Skinner or Crosby.. we forget about Pacioretty, Latendresse and the (what seams like) dozens of others that we’ve brought up before it was necessary.

There isn’t a spot for him and we have the LUXURY of not needing him to fill a hole in the lineup. Lets let the kid play his final two pre-season games and then head out to Van City where he can dominate, play in the WJC and be ready to make some noise next year.

I think you might be getting worked up over nothing. It’s still exhibition games, I still believe he will play in the WHL this season, but why not give him this experience of playing against more talented opponents? I completely agree that if he were to play this season it would be rushed. Because as you have said, for how much he’s played one assist isn’t great in the preseason, and you know he’s probably one of the few guys on the team giving it 100% during these games.

I just think if we’re the type to say (AND WE SHOULD BE) it doesn’t matter if the veterans suck during the pre-season because it is in NO WAY a measure of what actual NHL hockey is like, we ALSO must acknowledge that as fantastic as it has been to watch this teenage phenom stickhandle in a crowded phone-booth – he’s done it in the pre-season.

It won’t be the same when defenders are willing to actually hit instead of save themselves for games. It won’t be the same when coaches will go ballistic for blowing defensive coverage.

I fully believe he’ll be an exceptional pro. I just want him to have the benefit of being a man by the time he has to play against them.

Have not had a chance to sit down and give it a proper listen, but I am pumped that Joey is back. Bush has a great voice, and killed in Armored Saints, and singing the old Anthrax classics, but the voice of Anthrax will always be Joey.

No problem with that call. Gives the team an opportunity to see how he performs with a considerably better D corps and some real lines up front.
Gee, what happens in here tonight if the Habs win and Backup Buddy Budaj (TripleB™) plays a good game? HI/O meltdown!

I know conventional wisdom and BG PG pragmatism dictate that young Gallagher goes back down to the Juniors to ferment but can we really afford to lose that dynamic and effective a player right now? He would be killer on a 3rd line with Whitey and AK. It’s a matter of time before one of those posts he hit becomes a goal. I’ve followed this kid for a few years now (I won’t lie my Irish heritage predisposed me to wanting him to be wicked) and I can see no good reason why he doesn’t start with us in Toronto on October 6. We have a strong team but our offense isnt as deep as it could be and young Gallagher will only help that situation.

He had great speed and energy, but he needs to work on some small things.. and his scoring touch… which is a big thing actually. I’ll admit I think the AHL would be better suited for him, I can’t imagine the WHL is a big enough challenge for him for a whole season.

Got me thinking that if I am a GM/coach who is OK with concussed atheletes (and there must be a number of them for things to get to this state), do I urge marginal players to step over the line to draw suspensions in the short term. An increase in suspendable acts might force Shanahan to increase penalties, further alienate him from the neathrandrals and make it look like suspensions don’t work.

That is almost too much forward thinking for the neanderthal GM/Coach to figure out though isn’t it?

Living in the GTA I will be curious to watch how Colton Orr’s season goes. The guy was concussed bad last year, he has been very limited in preseason play. Yet you know Game 1 he plays reg. season Burke and Wilson will expect him to start fighting and fighting often. I worry he is going down a road that won’t end pleasantly.

Now that JM has a little more servicable goaltending than the *Ahem* talents of Patrick Lalime, Damien Rhodes, Ron Tugnutt, Martin Prusek and Jani Hurme, the Canadiens are certainly in the running.

Notable for everyone: Randy Cunneyworth took a team weaker than what Guy Boucher had the previous season in Hamilton and got them to not only a 2nd straight Division Title but a Conference Final Game 7 that was only lost on shoddy officiating.

In trying to get support for cutting the CBC’s budget (and don’t get me wrong I do believe the CBC is absolutely dire, with a few exceptions, although I would prefer it to be improved rather than hobbled) the Tories (by the way thanks for that, Western Canada) have called on Mr Pierre Karl Peladeau to testify at a parliamentary committee.

Mr Peladeau’s shabby little Sun Media have a regular feature called “CBC Money Drain”. Mr P. believes that it is wrong for Canada’s tax dollars to be “wasted” on the CBC.

This is the same Karl Peladeau who is getting a $400M gift from Quebec taxpayers courtesy of Jean Charest.

By the way I went to school with PKP. For what it’s worth, I recall him always being at the bottom of the class. His rich daddy was always going to give him the family business anyway. Now he crusades against “handouts” – for others.

Not surprising, CBC isn’t being a friendly little propaganda outpost for Harper so of course he wants to tear them down.

Chretien and the Liberals got shellacked more than once by CBC and the Royal Canadian Air Farce had most of their best skits ever credited to the government’s action. Thing is, Chretien actually took a couple of guest appearances on the show and let them have a few jokes at his expense. Can you imagine back when the RCAF was going during it’s prime years that Harper would go on and let them have their fun at his expense?

@HF72, is PKP’s father the founder? If so will be interesting to watch the success or failure of that company when 3rd generation has to step in and run it. So many family businesses struggle when the 3rd generation has to step up to the plate. Too often that generation is so spoiled and lazy they have no concept of how to run the business.

A crown company doesn’t need to be a cash cow. It’s a service that’s provided, and more often than not, better than its private competitors.

Privately owned news sensationalize, and distort everything to make it interesting. A crown corporation is (should be) exempt from such pressures, and is therefore free to present the news in the fairest sense. The CBC gives voice to the three major parties. Sun News gives voice to the Conservatives.

It’s easy to make a product for a target audience (Sun), it’s difficult to make a product for an entire country with a diverse population (CBC). With a tougher sell, the CBC still does the better job. The service they offer is invaluable to the population.

Perhaps if you can’t recognize the very obvious bias of CBC news, it may be because, unlike the new Sun News, you agree with it. Nah! could never happen, right? 1.1 billion dollars for a Liberal life support system. Lovely. If Harper was truly evil, he would use the P.M.’s office almost total power to make the CBC into an even more conservative Sun News. Would you prefer a state broadcaster that you DON’T agree with? Would that be better? You could feel like me. Das Pravda comrade.

As for Latendresse, his problem wasn’t being rushed either. It’s a nice narrative to blame management or the Francophone media, but it doesn’t hold up. The problem was that Latendresse was entitled. He felt he deserved a spot in the top 6 without earning it. Several coaching staffs disagreed. He asked for a trade and then acted like a little b*tch when it happened. Yet he scored at a consistent rate in a bottom 6 role for the Habs until he stopped trying in 2009. His rapid scoring increase in Minnesota shows “rushing” him hardly impacted his development.

A lot of guys can battle their way out of the pressure and issues that hang over them from entering the NHL a bit too early. Guimauve did not want to put the work in to show he deserved his position with the Canadiens. If his name had been Geoff Larmer he’d have been considering a lazy punk and good riddance to bad rubbish the second he was traded.

I know I’ve said it a thousand times, but I’ll continue to say that Price had a good rookie campaign and was lights out to start his sophomore season too, until he suffered the high ankle sprain. He had a horrible 2nd half to that season which I attribute to the injury, not at all to him being rushed. His 09-10 season wasn’t as horrible as people seem to think either. He had a good start, then slumped, followed by a good middle and another slump leading to Jaro having an opportunity to take his job because of the way Jaro was playing. I know Leafs fans at that time that told me ” I wish we had either 1 of your goaltenders”.

Well looking at those lines, it’s even debatable which line is 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The Pleks line is likely still number one, but frankly, either of the other two could out-perform them on any given night. I don’t think it’s so much a demotion or promotion for either Gallagher or Gionta, so much as it is just a trial of a different combo.

Very glad to see PK back in a game. Obviously him sitting was just precautionary, which I assumed but was still a little afraid ya know. Looking at those lines, I can see what the 1st line is, but I’m having a hard time deciding between 2a and 2b.

I hope in the next CBA, they somehow make it possible for guys 18-19 to be able to play in the AHL, guys like Gallagher, and Seguin (last year), should be playing in the AHL, its weird, what if you have nothing to prove in juniors, but aren’t ready for the NHL.

The CHL is the biggest and best development league in hockey. To protect this league from being trained of its best developing talent at a young age, a player has to make the roster in the NHL or be sent back to junior if he is of junior age.

The reality is only every few years does a team have a player in this dilemna. FOr the most part the player quite obviously needs to go back to CHL. End of day changes to this rule, do far more damage to the CHL versus the benefit to the NHL, IMO.

Bob Mackenzie TSN tweeted that because Gallagher was drafted 4th round or later, deadline is this Sat. at 5pm for Montreal to offer him a contract, whereas 1st, 2nd and 3rd rounders deadline is Tuesday 5pm.

1.The start of the NHL season.
A junior-aged player who is not signed to an NHL contract by this time must return to his junior team (the official deadline is usually a day or two before the opening games). That player is essentially gone for the year. He is not eligible to return to the NHL until his junior team’s season is over.
2. The 10-game mark.
A junior-aged player with a contract can play up to nine NHL games as a trial period. If he is returned to junior before the tenth game, his contract is effectively put on hold: when he goes to training camp the following season, he will be in the first year of his contract.
Once the player appears in his tenth NHL game, his contract kicks in. He can still be returned to his junior club after that. But at season’s end, a full contract year will expire.
3.The 40-game mark.
This is when the clock starts ticking on a player’s free agent status. Under the 2005 collective agreement, a player are eligible for unrestricted free agency after seven years in the NHL. But if he returns to junior hockey before playing 40 NHL games, the season does not count as an “accrued season,” which means it doesn’t count towards free agency eligibility.
So an 18-year-old rookie who plays at least 40 NHL games can become an unrestricted free agent at the age of 25. An 18-year-old who is returned to junior hockey before game 40 will not be eligible for free agency until he’s 26. (Assuming both go on to become NHL regulars every season after that.)
Note also that a junior-aged player with an NHL contract cannot be sent to a minor pro league like the AHL unless he has already played four seasons of junior hockey. He must either stay on the NHL roster or return to junior.

Okay, NHLers, you say, fine, lets just put one in the W side of a sad 1-5-0 preseason. If these games truly are meaningless lets build up
the team’s confidence, determination, skill set, and celebrate some GOALS in the opposition’s pipes and not ours.

I won’t comment on whether or not Gallagher should be signed immediately. Truth is, I can find both positives and negatives on both sides of that coin. But here’s the thing (regardless of which way anyone is thinking on Gallagher and when the Habs should sign him), it won’t happen anytime soon. With the maximum number of signed players nearly reached, I can’t imagine the Habs rushing on Gallagher. The only way, would be to cut someone loose to make room for another signing. Fans can argue all they want about if that should happen, and with who, but it really isn’t the trend in Montreal.

I’m not thrilled with the idea of trying to convert yet another defenceman to forward, because he can’t make the team as a defenceman. An argument could be made on the merits of keeping a guy around in that way for injury insurance on D, but isn’t that what your farm club is for? The signing of Campoli didn’t appear to be one of those insurance type moves. I get the feeling he is pencilled in as a starter. Why keep guys hanging around like that? I guess it all comes down to money, and the number of contracts held by the club. This is why we will not have any chance of Gallagher being signed. He can be returned to junior, without burning one of the last one or two contracts available. No matter how good he looks, or how ready he may be, he’s still junior age, therefore costing the club no money and no combined roster space between the NHL club and the farm team.

I would think Gallagher is here for one reason only, injuries. If Moen, White, Eller, Leblanc are injury free these guys are filling are forward spots. I only mention Leblanc as he has the opportunity to go back and forth from AHL to NHL, I don’t believe he is ready by any means.

Unfortunately Palushaj and Trotter have not shown they are capable of the NHL. It is starting to look they may be career AHL’ers or perhaps get a shot elsewhere.

Hopefully Gallagher makes the most of the situation can help the team and learn some lessons from 9 games or less and then continue to improve back in the WHL.

If Gallagher were to sick around, I think he has a decent shot at playing the 9 games or whatever before being sent down, but if he stays the entire season, That creates even more of a logjam on that 3rd line.

Even before Gallagher arrived on the scene the Habs were left with the tough decision of deciding if Eller or Desharnais would move from center to the wing on the 3rd line.

So if Gallagher sticks around and Eller and Desharnais are both healthy, what do they do?

I’m guessing White is still not 100% and there will be a little line shuffling until he returns and when that happens, Gallagher will be sent back to junior before the 9-game-mark.

1. Wouldn’t it be prudent to save Gallagher’s 9 games for an injury emergency? (Eller I don’t classify as an emergency, partly as he’s already out and it’s a known situation).

2. I started reading the TSN profile on Habs for the new season, which I had been anticipating, then when I thought I was going to puke, I stopped. Just cut and past drivel, no insight. But it’s there today if anyone wants to check it out.

As much as I love seeing Gallagher play, I would rather have him play more significant minutes in juniors and continue his development there. We have too many small players in this team and we have no room for him. The only way I see him play with the CH is if canadiens trade AK46 since I’m sure they won’t be able to afford him next season. Might as well get something in return, giving BG a spot on the third line.

I was going to make the exact same comment rated_R. The team is small enough and Gallagher should have another year of seasoning before making the big club. Why not sign him and put him in Hamilton instead of back to the Giants? He seems he can compete physically with men. I just don’t think it’s a good idea to throw him to the wolves here, without ever playing pro before. It’s not like the kid has score 5-6 goals this camp. Don’t see a pressing reason to keep him. We don’t want another rushed too fast Latendresse or Price situation.

Price was ABSOLUTELY RUSHED and we all went through HELL with it – including him – and we are damned lucky he came through it strong, no thanks to Habs management. And so was The Tender One, for the record.

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

What’s important is the end result and the end result is that Price is one of the best goalies in the league and he’s not even 25. The difficulties he had after his rookie year are part of the learning process he had to go through. He’s great because he had them, not despite having them.

He can’t play the AHL yet, rules stipulate he must play another year of junior hockey first as he is currently ineligible. Albeit he could sign at the end of his junior season and suit up with Hamilton if they are still in the playoffs.

NHL is a bit over his head for a complete season though, I suspect he’s back to juniors in time to try out with Team Canada.

he can´t play in the ahl but he could play for the habs? So what is the rule if he is signed by the habs, at some point, after a certain amount of games, the habs should be able to send him to Hamilton just like any other player who wasn´t performing. Would he have to clear waivers, is that the reason that cannot be done?
If it´s just because they lose a year before free agent eligibility i think it is worth it in a case like this. Gallagher has absoluetly nothing left to prove playing another year for the Giants.

I wouldn’t trade AK this year, except maybe at the trade deadline. First, he did play better last year so let’s give him that. Two, it’s a contract year so he could be even better this year. Three, having him on the 3rd line gives us a big winger on each line, which we should try at least for one year to see if it makes any difference.

Shiram, you are a helpful person. Would be nice if there was a clear link on everypage of this website with gravatar instructions and how to clear cookies from one’s browser. I do recognize Gazette essentially owns this site, so they won’t want that, but you get my idea.

I was tempted to post today a request for how to read Gazette articles but thought better of it.

About the article on Toronto sports. Ouch! That’s gotta leave a mark. What he forgets to mention, and it greatly affects our Habs too, is how hard it is, even for really good players, to play under a microscope. Not much room to make the inevitable mistakes for which they get crucified. It’s already started on Campoli over his screw up in the playoffs with the Hawks. No wonder some … er … most players would rather play elsewhere and stars like Patrick Roy run or are run out of town.
God have mercy on mere humans.
Go Habs!

I do think there is a somewhat different ideology behind the microscope that is Leaf Nation and that of playing in Montreal.

I find that here in Toronto the fans tend to believe in the players and rather aim most of their venom towards ownership or GM or Coach. Whereas in Montreal I think the fans start with ragging on players and then move upwards to coach and GM and ownership. In Toronto there seems to be this belief that anyone who puts on the Blue and White sweater is immediately an impact player. Whereas in Montreal the player has to first earn that respect.

Obviously I don’t live in Montreal, just my take on it from an Ontario perspective. Would welcome others thoughts on it.

Wasting no time, Morgan Ellis scored two goals (including the GWG) and one assist in his first game back with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles to lead his team over PEI Rocket 5-2, he was named 1st Star of the game.

Nathan Beaulieu kicked in a goal and assist in his first game back with the Saint John Sea Dogs in a 3-1 win over the Blainville-Boisbrand Armada.

Hey we’re stuck with Spatch… Besides old guys like him and Skillsie don’t really get going until the Christmas break.

If Markov hadn’t suffered a setback in his rehab we might have been able to get away with 10 mins of Yemelin-Diaz-Spacek-Weber. That’s not the case so they’ve thrown Campoli in the mix. Good on em.

I don’ t want PK logging massive minutes pre-Christmas carrying the whole team on his back. I want my guy primed for the post season so he can put the boot in Boston and take us to the promised land.

I think we’ll get there… and I think the new fitter Spacek will give us decent D from about game 20 onwards. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s come in shape. Let’s see what he can do in his (last) contract year.

Were stuck with him, that’s it that’s all. He is very useless whether its the start of the season or the end. That was one bad signing and I am a Bob Gainey fan! I watched him live in Montreal in game 4 last year of the bruins series and he clearly cost us the game on two of the 4 goals. He cannot play his position, he cannot shoot anymore, he cannot clear the net, he’s finished and management knows it but cannot find a way to dump him.

“the new effort will stress the negative financial impact that counterfeiting is having on teams, sports retailers, and also on the manufacturing industry. ”
Negative financial impact to whom? The league?
At $300/jersey for an official version, I’d rather pay $50 for a knock off, if it means putting extra groceries on the table.
Sorry to disappoint all GMs who award $7.3MM/year contracts to underachievers.

I am so pumped for this game. It feels like the first ‘real’ game after which there can be no excuses by fans and management and players re ‘this is pre-season’. All indications are a reasonably ‘full lineup’ on the ice.

One reason I am pumped is Gallagher. At the risk of sounding vain and ‘tooting my own horn’ I dont recall ANYONE being as high on this player as EARLY as I have been. From the day he was DRAFTED and I read up on his character and pedigree.

And dont worry about his size. The men in his gene pool seem to be stocky, barrel-chested and resilient physically. The body type that brings taller men down to the floor where they have the advantage.

His body should develop accordingly. In a year or two you wont be able to push him off the puck.

I am glad JM addressed the need for better 5 on 5 offense in his remarks.

I still feel that they could have done more to develop acumen in this area by ALL players on the team during the PRESEASON. It is true you can’t teach true offense but you can teach players schemes and positioning and lanes etc etc and thus improve their ‘thinking on their feet’ and ‘reliance on linemates’ to develop the ‘telling pass’ to the line-mate who then must ‘pull the trigger’. If you have ever been in a team-game like hockey and soccer (for me) and been exposed to the wondruous and eye-opening skill of a great offensive coach, you will marvel at how being introduced to good offensive techniques open the eyes of even the best-skilled forwards.

I remember the colloquial and funny phrase used by this amazing Brazilian coach whom I was exposed to. He used to say ‘make the goalie caca-hole shake’ trying to follow your plays. That’s what our team needs to do.

I have been paying particular attention to this element during the pre-season telecasts. One instance sticks in my mind. Between the 3 and 4 minute mark of the first period against Boston in the last game, Gionta comes down the wing and the goalie is obviously well positioned and Gionta fires a puck at the net while his teammate on the other wing is doing the ‘go to the net’ rush. He shoots the puck and the attack is snuffed as the puck is caught up in the goalie’s pads and the defenders then protect him and it.

JM is always preaching ‘go to the net’ And of course you want that element in hockey. You want players who are NOT afraid to go to the net. But……

But in a preseason game it would have been nice to see Gionta gain the zone at full speed, then adjust his speed and approach to force the goalie to start to think and react position wise and also force the defenders to think of more danger than just rushing to protect a rebound. Would have been nice to see Gionta make body-language communication with his linemate and make some sort of ‘combination’ play which would have brought options into the attack and questions into the defense.

It stood out because soon after Lucic had a similar sojourn into our zone and he and his linemate adjusted as described and had a much much better scoring chance.

This is a bugaboo of mine. And I know I will get scorn heaped on me from the HIO community. But the evidence is there. The requirement is there. We are woeful 5 on 5. We are woeful offensively.

Either we have had the ‘worst’ body of forwards in the league for the past two years or we just dont employ the ‘patterns of play’ to improve the productivity of those forwards.

Had a great time at the Seadogs vs Armada game last night. Nathan Beaulieu looked impressive in a 3-1 victory for Saint John.
Very smooth skater; smart hockey player.
Probably most impressive last night was the first star, Seadog goalie Mathieu Corbeil-Theriault…..30 saves, many of them were very difficult ones. The kid is huge….6-6, 197.
He is property of the Blue Jackets.
Great spot to see a game, the arena is easy to get to. The ride from Boisbriand to St.Lazare after the game took under 40 minutes.

Supplicant No. 3785: Highly Intelligent One, I have slogged through jungles, crossed searing deserts, climbed snow-clad mountains to seek your counsel. It is said you possess the collective wisdom of thousands accumulated over the ages. Please grant me an audience that I might benefit from your infinite knowledge.
HIO: Seeker of truth, ask your question quickly. The line grows impatient.
Supplicant No. 3785: I am confused. What good is the pre-season if you use players you know aren’t going to make the roster more than the regulars who could use the time to get into game shape?
HIO: How the hell should I know! … Just kidding. The Highly Intelligent One likes to show he has a sense of humour every now and then.
The preseason, if you must know, is designed to replace a fan’s irrational expectations with mounting trepidation – and vice versa – in preparation for the regular season, when irrepressible optimism alternates with unrelenting despair with every win and loss. Enjoy. Next.
Supplicant 3786: Highly Intelligent One, I have slashed my way through thick forests, hiked across barren lands
HIO: Why doesn’t anyone take the GO bus, it drops you off at the front door!? Continue.
Supplicant 3786: I have been a fan of the Leafs since 1970. Is this the year they win the Cup?
HIO: Imposter! A Leaf fan and you don’t ask what’s the best route for the Stanley Cup parade!? Remove yourself at once!
Supplicant 3787: Highly Intelligent One, I have journeyed many miles … on the GO bus. Here are my line combinations for the Canadiens, what do you think?
HIO: NEXT!

Best of luck John, hopefully you don’t have to go to that Hospital that completely screwed up the fractured wrist on Andrea Horvath’s son as she put it during the debate. Oh wait, she isn’t blaming the hospital afterall now, nevermind.

If you’re a sports fans for the action and drama who plays and watches because a season, a series, a game can change in a moment and missed last nights baseball drama then you owe it to yourself to tune into TSN this AM and watch what happened to the Bosox and the Rays. If it was a movie script it would have been corny. It was live. It was real and fans of both teams probably can’t believe it today. Talk about “it ain’ over until it’s over” because it was as close to over as over. Unreal drama……you couldn’t script it.

Every team I wanted to get in did. Not often with all that drama, you can have the added benefit of enjoying who wins and loses.

Great night for baseball. I still indeed hope they can add 1 more wildcard to each League. Helps keep things competitive for season end. Had there been no wild cards, last night would not have existed, drama wise.

looks like that Martin has finally realized that you cannot have Gorges on the second unit pp point when we have injured players who usually play the point…the problem i see is that the forwards he is trying will not have enough practice on the point before they have to do it in real games…Plecks last year made many wrong decisions on the point and i am not sure if Ak46 would not be the same or Gomez..

try and swing a deal that invloves weber and spacek and figure out what to do with the DD and gomez situation. this kid would look good on the third line with eller and whoever else JM decides to put on the other wing…

I can’t see any teams at this juncture wanting Spacek. He will only become attractive IMO when a team is in specific need of a journeyman dman in 2nd half of season. He will also need to show that he can play better than he appeared in the latter stages of last year.